McALLEN, Texas – A Texas border county assistant district attorney faces federal charges for allegedly lying to authorities about a client soliciting and bribery investigation. The suspect’s brother, an immigration attorney, is currently facing bribery charges for allegedly paying detention center guards for lists migrants to generate into client leads.
On Monday morning, federal authorities arrested 27-year-old Cynthia Alanis, an ADA with the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office. DA Ricardo Rodriguez issued a statement revealing that Alanis’ arrest was not tied to her work and confirmed her termination of employment.
The indictment against Alanis was not filed at the federal courthouse in McAllen, but instead in Brownsville on February 18. On Monday afternoon, Alanis went before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ignacio Torteya who notified her of the charges and set bond at $50,000.
Federal prosecutors allege that Alanis lied to agents with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Office of Professional Responsibility, who were probing her brother Roel Alanis for a potential a bribery and soliciting scheme. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in July 2019, authorities arrested Roel Alanis for allegedly paying guards at two immigration detention centers for list of detainees.
“[Roel Alanis] would then visit, or instruct others to visit, illegal aliens for the purpose of hiring his law firm as their attorney in immigration proceedings,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed at the time. Roel Alanis is currently awaiting trial on a seven-count indictment.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.